From Cian Treacey's article
Possible Ireland team to play Italy: J Osborne; R Baloucoune, G Ringrose, S McCloskey, J Lowe; S Prendergast, C Casey; J Loughman, D Sheehan, T Furlong/T Clarkson; J Ryan, J McCarthy; C Izuchukwu, C Doris (capt), J Conan.
So just to be clear. Your saying that try assists are a nothing stat when it comes to offense, but the guy who kicks conversions or penalties is a very important offensive stat.
And we can ignore the eye test as you said that the stats that were mentioned prove that Byrne is better.
Balacoune aside, that side is short of pace.
Thornley team
Ireland (possible) v Italy:
Osborne; Baloucoune, Ringrose, McCloskey, Lowe; S Prendergast, Casey; Loughman, Sheehan, Clarkson; McCarthy, Ryan; Izuchukwu, Doris (capt), Conan.
Replacements:
Kelleher, O’Toole, Furlong, Edogbo, Beirne, Tierney, Gibson-Park, Crowley.
I assume Tierney is meant to be Timoney.
So who is the victims here? JGP and Beirne dropped to the bench. Prendergast, VDF, Stockdale and TOB dropped entirely.
Baloucoune would really surprise me but maybe Farrell believes TOB was that bad he simply had to be dropped.
Yep typo in times article
I guess we should also say Thornley was completely wrong last week so who knows really.
He’s a great player but Osbourne isn’t a fullback. Don’t get not sticking Stockdale there where he has actually played well all season. Stockdale hasn’t taken any chance he has had for a few years so maybe he is out of them but would be putting him at 15.
The 6/2 potentially kills it as Osbourne can cover the full backline if needed outside the half backs if a reshuffle is needed during the game.
Not sure what Milne did to deserve being dropped either from Thornleys team, if he is correct.
he was first out last week though, this week he isn’t.
Maybe waiting until others jumped the gun before publishing?
kinsella, Tracey, Thornley in that order this week.
Have to say, Milne would be hard done by if TOT is the LH cover on the bench.
The likes of Stockdale, TOB and C Prendergast might feel aggrieved that they weren’t given another go in what will (hopefully) be an easier ride. If Izuchukwu comes in and rips it up, does it mean he’s better than Prendergast or that Italy are crap? But such is life I suppose.
Ditching VDF completely would be pretty momentous
Seems like the 6/2 split is here to stay? Can't say I'm a huge fan of it, especially when we're down a few major impact carriers. But I hope we keep to it once those lads are back. Paddy McCarthy, Baird, Ahern and Izuchukwu could all off great impact from the start and from the bench.
We're also more likely to see Crowley and Sam Prendergast share the pitch as dual playmakers. That's another welcome sign.
Bryn Ward was being bigged-up on the TV news as a bolter for the 23, yet seemingly not.
To my mind Tadhg Beirne should get this week completely off.
I'm just pointing out he's second in the more important stats.
Do you call your scrum-half passing a ball to a forward who scored inside the 5 metre line a big deal? He's right beside the scrum half and a hole opens up outside him so he passes the ball on, is that some superstar move?
Just because a player makes the last pass before a try means nothing. The guy that touched it before him could be the one who made the try happen and that's sometimes the case as is the fourth last player.
Any player thats finished at U20 level and has 4/5 people ahead of them in their club position should really seriously consider taking or seeking an opportunity in England or France and accelerating their development into first team Rugby. The way things are they will always be begged to come back to one of the provinces if they can make it
Lowe doesn’t deserve to be in the squad let alone the match day 23.
He needs a big performance
We don't know how he's been training, he may have found a vein again. And if any of the opposition sides will allow him to perform well, its Italy.
But you're correct, he must shoot the lights out.
Any speed from the opposition and we are in trouble, Lowe has no pace and Prendergast and Baloucoune can't tackle.
good to see the Prendergast police out and about counting posts
you can add Ringrose to that list of iffy defenders as well.
and also add him to the list of players who need a big game.
On what basis do you think Balacoune can't tackle?
certainly cannot be cries of conservativism or favouritism if thats the team that takes to the field.
delighted to see Edogbo in there, he really is a USP player of which we have very few and are running out of. hopefully he gets a good 30 minutes at least to run at tired Italian defenders.
JGP is hardly dropped, if Casey is starting I'm assuming he was due to start this anyway. And if JGP is actually dropped that's really tough on him to get the blame for playing as instructed.
Overall, I'm happy to see changes. Hopefully, we'll see an improvement in intensity and performance
Baloucoune is a savage tackler, no idea what you're on about there.
Joe McCarthy is a very lucky boy if that team transpires tomorrow. Needs a big game in the tight and a disciplined performance. He was in competition for the worst player in a green jersey last week.
Not a fan of Doris at 7. Not sure what Timoney needs to do to get a start, he was one of the few who performed last week.
Would loved to have seen Stewart in the 16 jersey, not sure what Kelleher offers at this level any more.
Mikey Milne also one of the few guys who showed up last week too and he's replaced by a guy playing out of position? When did TOT last play LH at this level?
On a positive note, delighted to see Casey get the start. He can bring a bit of zip to the service from the ruck which may help Sam get the backline motoring.
And am super excited to see EdEd get his Ireland debut, he is something that we just don't produce normally. This bench role suits him perfectly at the moment. 20-30mins of blowing holes in a tired Italian defence.
The changes on both wings are interesting too. Just shows that nobody is going well there, everything up for grabs.
Timony would be very hard done by if dropped.
since when could Baloucoune not tackle?
Defensively Baloucoune is probably one of the better wingers available to Ireland.
His issue has always been that he likes to stay on the wing rather than coming in to play midfield like Farrell likes his wingers to do. And he also can't stay fit.
When we've seen him this season he's definitely been popping up in midfield more, McFarland might have been the reason for him hugging the touchline.
I'm not against changing up a few players if that's what happens. However let's be realistic, the magnitude of the test this Saturday is considerably less than last Thursday. Plus it appears as though remarkably Saturday might just be the first relatively dry day since Christmas.
If confirmed some of the players brought in against France (namely Stockdale and C.Prendergast) only to be dropped might feel they got a bit of a hospital pass from Farrell.
It doesn’t require much counting. For the past week this has read more like a Prendergast Forum where very occasionally some rugby gets discussed.
